Sovereign Venture
Light, scouting cruisers are the eyes and ears of Imperial fleets. They carry enough fuel and supplies for patrols that last months or even years, and enough firepower to dispatch any smaller vessels foolish enough to close with them. The Dauntless is popular because it combines the maneuverability of a frigate with a daunting forward lance armament.
Population
The Sovereign Venture is an ancient ship, dating back at least a few millenia. While it is a light cruiser, it's scale is still almost unimaginable by those who have never seen an Imperial ship in its full glory. While the crew numbers around 65k, the actual population of the ship numbers closer to 400k.
There are 6 main towns with populations of nearly 50,000 each, 54 villages with populations of a couple thousand each, and hundreds of watch-stations. It has a parcel delivery system with 101 postal codes. This system operates via ancient mag-lev pipes running crisscrossed through the inner hulls of the ship, which are also often used by servo-skulls to quickly get around.
The vessel’s social structure is every bit as complicated as its physical structure. There are police, firefighters, lawyers and judges, plumbers and electricians, merchants that sell food and clothing, guilds that regulate work, commerce, and social activities, not to mention schools for the children on board. It’s a city of nearly half a million souls, with all the daily drudgery and drama that entails.
Like any massive city, the ship also has a dark side. In addition to the domestic crimes and acts of passion that half a million souls can engage in, there is a black market for hard-to-obtain commodities and contraband. There is a mutant population that is restricted to working in the lower bilge decks. Some mutants are the result of generations of families subjected to the harsh stellar radiation of life in the void. More recent mutations are the result of working in radiated areas unprotected from the plasma conduits. Mutants are a persecuted minority aboard every ship. In addition to them are the ever-present hull-ghasts every ship gives rise to over time. These are criminals, mutants, and rejects of society that disappear into the labyrinthine tunnels. They live on vermin when a ship is lucky, and generate ship-wide man-hunts when they turn to human prey.
Layout
The Sovereign venture's cargo holds are split up and spread out across the ship, with about 8 holds of which each can hold approximately 100 Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. Each of these holds is serviced by a single Baum-class cargo lifter, a larger cousin of the Argus lighter. Two additional lifters are docked separately, often used for away parties or to support a smooth loading/unloading cycle.
The ship has 75 main decks, and over 500 lesser decks. These decks contain a total of nearly 10k miles of main corridors. Secondary passageways account for an additional 25k miles. Crawlspaces and maintenance tunnels are so numerous that counting them would be an impossible task for even multiple generations of dedicated archaeoseers. The decks are interconnected by no less than 72 passengers elevators, and 32 enormous cargo lifts. Each of these cargo lifts is serviced by 8 ceiling-mounted cranes, with even a single crane capable of lifting skyscrapers. Speedy transit across the length of the ship is accomplished by an underslung monorail services, servicing every main deck with it's 3000 miles of track. Major stations are situated at every cargo lift, and stops are provided within 100 yards of every passenger elevator.
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